Kintbury is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, between the towns of Newbury and

Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...

. The village has a convenient railway to and , proximity to other transport and local cultural destinations, including

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

and Norman sites, and forms part of a very large

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

, the

North Wessex Downs The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The name ''North Wessex Downs'' is not a traditional one, the area covered being better kn ...

which extends from the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

at Streatley to West

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

Amenities

Amenities in the village have included the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

, a corner shop, and a

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...

. A

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

youth retreat and work centre,

St Cassian's Centre St Cassian's Centre is a Catholic Youth Retreat Centre in the village of Kintbury in the English county of West Berkshire. It is owned and operated by the Ireland, Great Britain and Malta District of the de La Salle brothers. The centre was set ...

, is south-west of the village centre, between Inglewood and Titcomb. There are two

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

in the village; The Blue Ball and The Dundas Arms. The village has sports facilities including

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gr ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

clubs, as well as an indoor

leisure centre A leisure centre in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia (also called aquatic centres), Singapore and Canada is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people ...

. The village has an area of

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

on its south eastern border called Catmore and Winterly Copses. The Village has a Local nature reserve called Kintbury Newt Ponds. Kennet and Avon Canal at the Dundas Arms, Kintbury - geograph

Kennet and Avon Canal at the Dundas Arms, Kintbury - geograph

Transport

Kintbury railway station in the village is served by local services from and to . The

Kennet and Avon Canal The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the cen ...

runs through the village at

Kintbury Lock Kintbury Lock is a Canal lock, lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Kintbury, Berkshire, England. The lock has a rise/fall of . See also *List of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal References

Locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal ...

. A horse drawn widebeam canal boat runs public trips from Kintbury, either towards Newbury or towards

Sport and leisure

The village holds an annual "Ray Boxshall Orienteering Fun Day". An

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a ...

event named after Ray Boxshall who was heavily involved in running the event in the years before he died. Kintbury has two amateur dramatic societies - The Kintbury Players (who generally perform comedic plays), and

St Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

's Drama Group who perform an annual

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...

in the

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...

half term holiday. Kintbury has a Sports and

Leisure centre A leisure centre in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia (also called aquatic centres), Singapore and Canada is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people ...

- the Kintbury Jubilee Centre, run by the community for the community, with fitness classes, clubs, and a hall available to hire. Kintbury is also home to

North Berks Football League The North Berks Football League is a football competition in England. The league was founded in 1908. It has a total of three divisions, with Division One sitting at level 12 of the English football league system. The vast majority of clubs are ...

club Kintbury Rangers F.C., who play at the Recreation Ground. Notable former players include Southampton F.C striker

Charlie Austin Charles Austin (born 5 July 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker. Released from his contract by Reading as a youth, Austin played non-league football up to May 2009, when he was signed by Swindon Town after a pro ...

and former Everton player

Brett Angell Brett Ashley Mark Angell (born 20 August 1968) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was striker and although notably spending time in the Premier League with Everton and Sunderland, he spent th ...

Notable residents

* George Cherry (1822–1887), cricketer and barrister * Robert Harris, author of well-known novels including ''Fatherland'', ''Enigma'' and ''Pompeii'' * Anthony Howard, political journalist, attended school there. * Roger Mortimer (

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

journalist) spent his final years living in Kintbury. * Chapman Pincher lived there for many years. * Sir Gordon Richards, 26 times champion jockey, spent his final years there and is buried there. * William Winterbourne, hanged at Reading Gaol for his part in the Swing Riots of 1830, buried in the churchyard

Demography

References

External links

Kintbury village website

Kintbury Players

Kintbury Jubilee Centre
* {{Authority control Villages in Berkshire Civil parishes in Berkshire West Berkshire District